"Intruders, someone has invaded the Sanctuary!" "All units on alert!" The Sanctuary was in chaos. Ever since Abel had so easily appeared inside the Sanctuary, its alert level had been raised by one tier. This time, the invaders could not, like Abel, ignore Athena's barrier and descend directly at the Sun Temple behind the Goddess Temple.
They could only enter through the main gate like normal humans. However, the main gate was guarded by much high-tech equipment from Bigao Star. After the God Warriors' previous invasion, Bigao had upgraded its monitoring capabilities by several levels. On top of that, these new enemies seemed unfamiliar with such technology, so the moment they forced their way through the gate, alarms blared throughout the Sanctuary.
Saints and soldiers alike jolted from sleep, hurriedly donning their armor and rushing toward the source of the alarm.
Yet when they arrived, there was nothing there but the ruined gate and a ground full of guards whose life or death was unknown.
Faced with such an eerie scene, the Saints had no choice but to raise the alert level again.
This time, even the Silver Saints were fully mobilized, patrolling nonstop and carefully searching for any abnormal Cosmo. Still, they found no trace of the enemy.
The trainee Saints and soldiers were at a loss; some even thought this was just some prank cooked up by a bored Gold Saint.
At that moment, the Sacred Fire that signaled an intruder in the Twelve Temples suddenly flared to life. Only then did they understand—a deep sense of humiliation rising in their hearts. It was not that there were no enemies; it was that they themselves had failed to detect them.
They were the future of the Sanctuary, and they had their pride. Even a common soldier took pride in fighting to protect Athena. All the more so the high‑strung trainee Saints, Bronzes, and Silvers. This was the sense of honor Meruem had fostered in the Sanctuary—the very thing driving them to grow stronger.
Because of the disturbances in Asgard, six of the Twelve Gold Saints had already been dispatched. Dohko remained on the Five Old Peaks and had not returned to the Sanctuary, so the Twelve Temples' defenses were little better than in the original Hades Twelve Temples arc.
"They're here." Standing in Aries, the First Temple, Mu stared warily at the seemingly empty space before him. Pretending not to know, he spoke toward the air. "Who goes there? Do you not know this is Athena's holy ground? Why have you trespassed?"
"I thought Athena's Sanctuary was full of useless trash. Didn't expect these so‑called Gold Saints to have some skill after all." A figure in a black cloak that hid his form appeared where the space had been empty. "My lord, leave this Gold Saint to me. I want to see how different today's Gold Saints are from those two hundred years ago."
Mu sensed several strange Cosmos trying to slip past him. He immediately spread both hands to block them. But a strange, indescribable Cosmo suddenly flared from the cloaked man in front of him, stunning Mu for an instant—and that instant was all it took for those Cosmos to slip by.
"Aries, your opponent is me. If you're careless, I may very well kill you." The cloaked man in front of Mu extended a pale, slender arm and pushed back his hood, revealing a face whose gender was hard to tell. One thing was certain: his skin was the whitest Mu had ever seen.
"A Specter?" Mu asked when he caught a glimpse of black Cloth at the edge of the cloak.
"Bingo, but there's no prize. I am Veronica of the Heavenly Ultimate Star, servant of Death. Gold Saint, let me see your strength." A Cosmo more powerful than that of most Specters surged from Veronica's body, enough that Mu put aside any thought of underestimating him.
What Veronica did not see, however, was the faint smile at the corner of Mu's lips. The plan was proceeding smoothly.
"So you fall this easily? This is Athena's Gold Saint? Truly pathetic." Not long after leaving the First Temple, those strange Cosmos passed easily through Taurus, the Second Temple.
The Taurus Saint who should have been guarding it now lay flat within the temple. Yet his steadily rising and falling chest showed that this bull was in no danger of dying.
"That's enough, Morpheus. No one can resist our hypnotic power once we five brothers act together—least of all a mere Gold Saint. Come, we still have a mission." Another voice cut off the first, and several Cosmos sped toward the next temple.
After passing through several temples without guardians…
Scorpio Temple.
Milo of Scorpio counted as one of the few speed‑type Gold Saints. His Scarlet Needle was famed for its speed, precision, and lethality, and his Cosmo was formidable as well.
Incidentally, though Scarlet Needle was known as the most merciful killing technique—requiring more than ten needles to finally make the victim bleed out and die, earning Milo a reputation as the most "inefficient" Gold Saint—in truth, when Scorpio got serious, kills were anything but slow.
If he simply stopped aiming at acupoints and fired his Scarlet Needle straight at someone's forehead, what do you think would happen? One shot, one kill.
No slower than the flashy Lightning Plasma or Shura's sword that split foes in two—and far less draining.
Only against powerful enemies did Scorpio follow procedure and fire more than a dozen needles in sequence.
"How dare you break into the Sanctuary. Let me see what strength you have, you who would force your way through my Scorpio Temple." As he spoke, Milo extended his fingers, their tips long, thin, and painted blood‑red.
"No need for you honored ones to move. Leave these Gold Saints to us Specters." Perhaps passing so easily through Aries and Taurus had made the minor Specters traveling with the group a bit overconfident.
Utterly ignoring the Gold Saint before them, several unremarkable Specters actually stepped forward to volunteer.
"Lord Dream Gods, Lord Death God, leave this to me—Heavenly Wound Star Mandrake Fyodor." Clad in a Cloth shaped like a mandrake flower, one Specter stepped forward.
"Gold Saint, where are you looking? Your opponent is me! Lethal Scream!"
Capricorn Temple.
"The strongest sword among the Gold Saints, huh? Leave that to me, Heavenly Retreat Star Xuanwu Gregor. My Surplice's defense surpasses even diamond." A Specter whose dark armor shone with a crystalline sheen stood before Shura.
Aquarius Temple.
"Leave this one to me, Heavenly Sin Star Jackal Phlegyas. Mere cold? I'll tear you to pieces."
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